


Vulcan Nerve Pinches

by Stella_Notecor



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-04 15:26:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13367586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stella_Notecor/pseuds/Stella_Notecor
Summary: Jim had never considered his first officer as a potential soulmate before. Sure, he’d noticed Spock’s fingertips were stained black—all but the pinky—but he’d never seen Uhura’s mark. The two of them were so perfect. Jim assumed her mark was somewhere under her clothes and that it matched Spock’s perfectly.But if Spock were to pinch Jim’s shoulder, his fingertips would fall in precisely the right spots.(One-shot. Alternate Universe where you are born with a mark that matches the first touch of your soul mate. Otherwise canon-compliant through Star Trek Beyond.)





	Vulcan Nerve Pinches

Jim stared at the mark in the mirror. Fingerprints on his shoulder.

“It isn’t possible.”

How many times had he been touched there? Dozens, if not hundreds.

His brother told him he was lucky once. Sam’s mark was across his palm… a handshake mark, one of the most common ones. Still, Jim’s mark might be in a slightly less common place, but it certainly wasn’t unique.

The first time he’d really thought about his mark was when his fifth-grade teacher had squeezed his shoulder there. Ms. Warner wasn’t the first person to touch it, but he’d already had a little crush on her. Then he remembered she shook his hand on the first day of school, and he shrugged the touch off.

Since then, he’d caught so many people touching his shoulder… but never in just the right spot.

In reality, his mark was kind of weird. Three fingerprints were situated just above his collarbone. One thumb print was pressed into his shoulder blade. He’d made Bones put his fingers over top of the prints once, then pulled away so that he could see what it looked like. Bones’ hand had made a strange “c” shape.

Jim had never seen anyone grab a shoulder like that before.

Not until today.

Spock had taken out an enemy with one pinch to the shoulder. A pinch like the one he’d knocked Jim out with on the bridge over five years ago.

Jim had never considered his first officer as a potential soulmate before. Sure, he’d noticed Spock’s fingertips were stained black—all but the pinky—but he’d never seen Uhura’s mark. The two of them were so perfect. Jim assumed her mark was somewhere under her clothes and that it matched Spock’s perfectly.

But if Spock were to pinch Jim’s shoulder, his fingertips would fall in precisely the right spots.

Jim brushed his fingers over his mark. “Who am I kidding?” He and Spock were friends now, but he’d been with Uhura for 5 years. Relationships didn’t last that long for no reason. (And yet, they’d been rather on again-off again…)

Jim pulled his shirt on. Time to head to the bridge. He was letting his age get to him; just because he was 30 years old and hadn’t met his soulmate yet didn’t mean he wouldn’t. The very fact that he had the mark proved that he’d find that person someday.

* * *

 

  
Spock does not think about his soulmate. On Vulcan, a database had been maintained to match potential soulmates. His marks had been entered into the database at birth, but no match had ever been found.

As a child, it seemed like one more way in which his human side had failed him. As an adult, he realized that it simply meant his soulmate was not a Vulcan.

He had refused to enter romantic relationships with many people since their soul marks were obviously not a match for his own. He should have done the same for Nyota, but he had not seen her mark until long after their relationship had begun.

With months invested in the relationship and no soulmate in sight, he had agreed to stay with her until one of them found their soulmate.

He had never imagined he would find his first.

On a mission to explore a newly discovered planet, Jim’s shirt and undershirt had been ripped off by an attacking native. It was not the first time the Captain had lost an article of clothing, but his left shoulder had never been exposed before. Spock had taken in the three ovals above his collarbone as he had every other detail about the situation. (Jim had a large cut across his chest, the Doctor was yelling obscenities as they ran from the enemy, Nyota was supposed to be monitoring their frequencies and yet they had not been beamed up and why not?)

Then Jim turned and Spock saw the single thumbprint on his left shoulder blade.

Spock knew what left marks in that design. A Vulcan nerve pinch, when properly administered, required using the three middle fingers to press down on a nerve while the thumb was used to anchor the grip.

Spock had administered that very same nerve pinch to Jim on the bridge mere hours after they met.

As they scrambled to reach a safe place where they could contact the Enterprise, Spock scrambled to determine if he had touched Jim before that pinch. Due to his eidetic memory, Spock retained knowledge of every time he and the Captain had made contact.

That moment of violence, when Spock had wanted nothing more than to rid himself of Jim, had been their first touch.

* * *

 

Uhura and Spock broke up again a month after Jim realized that Spock could possibly be his soulmate.

Spock sat next to him at lunch the next day. They’d eaten lunch together before, but Jim felt like his mark was tingling as he looked into Spock’s dark eyes.

“So, why’d you break up this time?”

Spock ate his soup one steady spoonful at a time. “Our marks do not match. We have determined that ending our relationship now will cause less trauma to our friendship than if we wait until one of us locates our mate.”

Jim’s shoulder burned under his shirt. “Do you have any idea who you are looking for?”

Spock lowered his spoon to the table. He held up his hand. His four black fingertips stood out against his pale green skin. “I have determined that my soul mate is someone to whom I have administered the Vulcan nerve pinch.”

“Oh.” Jim pressed his right hand to his shoulder. Him? No way. “Um… how many people is that?”

Spock returned to eating his soup. “I have administered the nerve pinch to sixty-six individuals.”

His shoulder felt like ice. “That’s… a lot of people.”

“Twenty-seven of the individuals are now dead. Another sixteen bore visible soul marks in locations beside their shoulders.”

Jim was pretty good at math, but his brain didn’t want to work. “So… you only have… twenty-three candidates?”

Spock nodded. “Provided that I have already met my mate, then yes, I have twenty-three candidates to consider.”

“Right.” Jim wanted to ask if he was part of the twenty-three. Did Spock even remember pinching him? He knew Spock had a photographic memory, but he’d been emotionally compromised. Could that have messed with his memories?

“I need to… do some paperwork.” Jim grabbed his half-eaten lunch and retreated.

Spock’s eyes were dark and inscrutable as he raised his hand to bid Jim farewell with a Vulcan salute. His black fingertips taunted Jim as he raced out of the mess and as far from Spock as he could get on a ship floating in space.

* * *

  
Spock may have told Jim that there were twenty-three candidates for his mate, but in his mind, there was only one.

Two days after their conversation in the mess hall, he invited Jim to spar with him. They had sparred in the past, in a room with the temperature set for human comfort.

Spock arrived at the gym first and secured a room for them. He prepared for Jim by ordering the computer to raise the temperature by twenty degrees, one degree every two minutes.

Then Jim arrived, and they began.

Spock held back his strength. He wanted this match to last. He wanted Jim to feel the burn of a good workout.

Within ten minutes, Jim was sweating and red-faced. He yanked off his overshirt, holding up a hand to tell Spock he needed a break.

“Are you feeling well?” Spock wanted him to get hot, not overheat.

Jim nodded. “Yeah, just warm.” He chugged some water, then squared his shoulders. “Let’s go.”

Six minutes of sparring later, Jim was sweating profusely. Spock watched as he pulled off his undershirt and tossed it aside. The marks on his shoulder now in full view, Spock was able to do exactly what he wanted.

Knocking Jim’s feet out from under him, Spock forced him to the ground. He pinned Jim on his stomach so that he was able to grasp his shoulder from behind.

His fingers fit the marks perfectly. Spock released Jim’s shoulder, trailing his fingers gently across the marks.

Jim shuddered beneath him. “Spock?”

Spock climbed off his mate. When Jim rolled over, he offered him a hand.

Jim stood, his eyes fixed on Spock’s.

“What was that?”

Spock reached out to touch the mark again. “You are my mate.”

Jim backed away. “Um, no? I mean, we’ve known each other for years, and we haven’t been, you know, into each other like that.”

“Our marks match.” Spock followed as Jim backed his way into a corner. “I had not considered you as a mate until I saw your mark.”

“What about the other twenty-two people?! It could be one of them!”

“They were enemies. You are my friend.”

Bumping into the wall behind him, Jim was forced to stop. Spock pressed his fingers to the mark. His thumb ran across Jim’s collarbone.

Jim swallowed hard. “Spock, think about what you are saying.”

“I have.” Nyota and Jim were his closest friends. If Nyota was not his soulmate, then logically Jim had to be. There was no one else in this universe who matched him quite like Jim.

“I hope you’re right.” Jim wrapped his arms around Spock’s neck, pulling him closer.

“I am Vulcan,” Spock replied. “I am never wrong.” Which was perhaps not the full truth, but the statement made Jim smile.

He wished their first touch had not been one of violence, but he could not change the past. At least he could control the future.

He pressed his lips to Jim’s, tasting the smile he hoped to see every day for the rest of his life.


End file.
